N. Korean Olympic delegation set to arrive aboard S. Korean plane

SEOUL, Feb. 01 (Aju News) -- North Korea will dispatch ten athletes Thursday for competition in next week's Winter Olympics when South Korea skiers return home aboard a chartered plane after a symbolic joint training program that followed a dramatic inter-Korean agreement to allow temporary cross-border sports and cultural exchanges.

A 32-member North Korean delegation led by vice sports minister Won Kil-u will accompany South Korean skiers who participated in a two-day training program at the North's Masikryong Ski Resort near the northeastern port of Wonsan, according to the South's Unification Ministry.

The North Korean delegation includes Won, three coaches, 18 support staff and ten athletes -- three in alpine skiing, three in cross-country skiing, two in short-track skating and a figure skating pair, the ministry said.

An Asian Airlines A321 plane carrying South and North Korean delegations is to land at an airport in Yangyang at 5:45 pm (0845 GMT) after flying through an air route off the east coast, it said.

North Korean has agreed to dispatch a total of 22 athletes for the Olympics in Pyeongchang as well as hundreds of cheerleaders, performers, martial arts demonstrators and others. Twelve female ice hockey players have already moved into a South Korean training camp to form a unified hockey team.

For two concerts planned by a 140-member North Korean art troupe in Seoul and the eastern port of Gangneung, South Korea will issue 2,160 free tickets, including 1,060 selected by lot, Unification Ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun told reporters.